Bashir, who was convicted and imprisoned for having prior
knowledge of the attacks which killed 202 people, including 88
Australians, is also appealing for the lives of three convicted
bombers to be spared.

Bashir, the spiritual leader of Jemaah Islamiah (JI), was
released from prison in June after serving nearly two years.

Amrozi, Ali Ghufron - also known as Mukhlas - and Imam Samudra
are awaiting execution for their part in the plot.

In an interview tonight on ABC television's Foreign
Correspondent, Bashir claims the device that killed most people in
the Bali attack was a Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)
"micro-nuclear" bomb.

"The micro-nuclear bomb that did so much damage was a CIA bomb,
not Amrozi's bomb," Bashir told the ABC.

"The Bali bombing was actually masterminded by America. Well,
not masterminded, but hijacked. They planned it, but their plan was
hijacked by America."

"So the bomb that killed so many Australians, it was an American
bomb. It wasn't the bomb made by Amrozi and his friends."

Bashir defended the Bali bombers, but conceded their actions may
have been "misguided".

"Actually, they (the bombers) are not terrorists. America is the
terrorist. They are not terrorists. They followed the path of jihad
to defend Islam and Muslims. Perhaps their actions were misguided,"
Bashir said.

"Secondly, it was unfair of the court to sentence them to death
because their bomb would not have killed people, only injured them.
It was a CIA bomb that killed people."

Bashir also attacked the Australian government, saying it
wrongly continued to hound him and treat him as an enemy.

He said Indonesia had placed no travel restrictions on him and
he was free to go where he wanted.

"It's the Australian government that makes every effort to
ensure I continue to be hounded. So in Indonesia there are no
restrictions on me travelling overseas. I'm allowed to go anywhere
I want to.

"But it would be impossible to go to Australia because if I went
there I would be arrested and slandered by the Australian
government. The Australian government still treats me like an enemy
for reasons that are unclear. "